BOFA Warg Riders and 15mm Crimean War British

 I am a massive Tolkien fan. So, when Games Workshop brought out a 10mm set for The Battle of Five Armies, more than twenty years ago now, I of course had to buy one. Two even, but I have since given one away to a good friend. As it has been almost two decades before I finally started painting the first set, the chances that I will be painting two of them are quite remote.

However, a few years back I actually started working on them. It really is a nice set, containing the forces of Good and Evil, some terrain, and a rulebook based on the excellent Warmaster rules.

I had  some warg riders languishing on my painting desk, and I finally managed to finish them. The figures are fairly crude by today’s standards; the detail is nice enough, but the warg riders in particular suffer from lumps of excess plastic, especially between the forearms. However, bear in mind that they are small figures, so it will not be too visible in gameplay.

Next I painted some Irregular Miniatures 15mm British Guardsmen for the Crimean War. These are based for Volley and Bayonet. Another long time project, started in the early nineties. The figures I have are mainly MiniFigs, and a few years ago I bought some Irregular to try them out and see if they would match. They are okay, not the best and they had quite some flash (some of which I only discovered during painting), but they will do. I think they will go together alright, although the Irregular are a bit stockier and a bit taller. Blood Angels red for the tunics, Leviadon Blue for the trousers. The black is Black Templar, facings are Ultramarine Blue. Musket stocks are Gor-Grunta Fur, barrels Army Painter speedpaint Enchanted Steel. I must find some flags for them yet.

In the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge terms these are:

24x 10mm mounted @3 points = 72

16x 15mm foot @2 points= 32 

Total so far:

16 x 28mm

16x 15mm

24x 10mm

56 figures painted in April 2025

A new step

 For the last five years, I have been taking part in the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge. This is a friendly painting "competion", organized by my Canadian friend Curt, in which miniature painters and wargamers from all over the globe come together online during the winter months to paint and show their miniatures. Each participant sets himself (or herself, occasionally) a points target to reach, and each miniature or model has a certain points value. Whenever a particpant has completed something, he writes a blog post with some photos to show his work and gather the points. It is not a real competition, but simply a way to meet likeminded enthusiasts, share our passion for the hobby, and get some painting done.

I always very much enjoy participating, and this year I decided to try keeping my painting mojo flowing by continuing documenting my painting through a blog. So here is the first instalment of my painting journey throughout the year. I do not plan to bind myself to a regular schedule, nor am I certain that I will continue this experiment forever, but I see this blog as a convenient way to record what I painted and how I painted it. I am not a very good painter, nor am I a fast one, so we will have to see where we go with this!

One of the firm rules of the Challenge is that you should paint any figures you submit from start to finish during the Challenge. However, I still had some models in varying stages of completion on my painting desk when the Challenge began. So, after the Challenge had finished, I decided to finish these first.

First up are some 28mm early WWI French infantry. I have been slowly putting together a small force for the Blood and Valor rules by Firelock games, and this is my second section of French infantry, and the command squad. They are Wargames Foundry miniatures, and I like them a lot. I mainly used Contrast paints, Leviadon Blue for the coats and Blood Angels Red for the trousers, and finished with a wash of "Marine Juice", an equal mix of Agrax Earthshade, Reikland Flesh and medium.

In Challenge terms, these are 16x 28mm foot @ 5 points = 80 points.